Thursday, October 22, 2009

I have to admit that Etat Libre is a house that has always come this close to making me want to purchase, but somehow never quite got there. Tom of Finland came close, and Rien came closer, while one still makes me slightly queasy. Fat Electrician has certainly come the closest yet.

I love vetiver in almost all its forms: I have and wear Malle, Lutens, Guerlain and Tauer's and love several others I've tried. Fat Electrician starts with the vetiver ripped from the ground screaming: maybe ripped from the asphalt. There's a tarry smokiness to the opening that's in-you-face and jarring, in a good way. What's even more jarring is the drydown: vanilla and myrrh make it soft and only a little earthy and a little dirty. I'm not quite sure what this has to do with the idea of workers and butt-crack and not at all sure that I want to investigate Etat's website to find their reasoning. I'll just enjoy the scent thanks..

$69 for 50ML at Henri Bendel and LuckyScent (where I asked for and received my small sample)

I'm not a big vetiver fan. And I have such a hard time getting past the whole "we're light-years cooler than you" ELd'O mindset, not to mention their ad copy, that I don't see myself ever, EVER buying one of their fragrances. And I can't forgive them for making SM (gosh, even the shorthand sounds dirty!). Ad copy aside, none of them even *sound* good to me, except possibly Rossy de Palma.

Maybe I'm missing out... but somehow I think that I can find enough to love without throwing money at an outfit that I don't want to do business with. (Hey. It's a free market, I get to choose which perfume companies I patronize. I'd rather throw money at Laurie at Sonoma Scent Studio for something that I love. I never cringe at her ad copy, her prices are reasonable, and she makes beautiful-smelling things. And I promise not to snipe at anybody for spending their perfume simoleons however they see fit. Cheers!)

I hear Mals on the vetiver thing; though I have since been converted, I felt much the same for quite a while. And the hipper than thou thing; you know, if you've got to flaunt it...almost evokes the same reaction I have when I see a book with the Oprah Book Club "O": put.it.down.

Which isn't fair, of course; the book, or the perfume, could be quite fine, indeed. But the extra steps required to get around the first level response sometimes mean I'll just walk on by.

You know what's the weirdest thing about how I came to vetiver? Two scents, Vetiver Racinettes (which brought the forest floor into the picture), and Vetiver Dance (which made it all bubbly). That's right, folks, I said "bubbly." From She Who Runs From Aldehydes. Who knew?

Vetiver fanatic that I am, this one really won me over. Incredible stuff! Like you, I'm not quite sure as to why they chose this name and I don't think I want to know (actually, I definitely don't), but I'm more amused than offended. :-)

I thought it smelled very nice at Sniffa, I can see you falling for it! And laughing because the labels aren't huge and Bendel was crowded and they were on a low shelf... I grabbed one and stuck it up under my nose, guess which?!? Thank GOD I didn't spray.

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